Life on Uplifting Wings
by Lady Oakenshield
Summary: When Max and the others are taken back to the School, they find out that they weren't the only Avian-Human hybrid to survive. There was another. Another that may be their downfall, or their uplift. Whatever Max may choose...it's her decision.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

I awoke in a cage. Nothing like being stuck in a cage, right? Naw. There wasn't any light in the room I was in. There were just cages all around me…my worst nightmare…and in the one next to me sat Angel. Even though I'd been in the room before, the haunting words of Jeb ran though my mind.

"Angel!" I whispered. She shifted in her cage and moved towards my voice.

"Max? Is that you?" Oh, my baby was alive! My baby!

"Yes, baby, I'm here," I scooted over to the edge of my cage and held my hand out to her. "I'm right here," yeah, flippin' five feet away from you.

"No fair," Angel said. "You got a large cage…mine's medium size," oh my god! I was so proud of her trying to be brave and lighten the mood. You've got to start somewhere, don't you? I mean, she's only six…

"Max?" it was Fang. He was three cages down, next to Iggy who looked frightened. I kept the look of surprise from my face. He talks! But…back to Iggy. I felt bad for the poor guy. You can't see and now you're stuffed in a cage with a strange setting around you…I couldn't even imagine what he was going through. But then again, we were all going through it.

"Yeah, Fang, what's up?" he moved closer and I wished I could see his face, but it was covered by darkness…just like it always was. Dun, dun, dun!

"There's a girl here," my eyes widened. A girl? Whoa, hello!

"What do you mean?" I asked. Please, don't let him be messing with me now. Just…this… time!

"There's a girl in the cage next to me…and she's got wings," my heart almost stopped. A girl? With wings? What the frick?

"Is she…alive?" I could have kicked myself as soon as I said that. Of course she was alive!

"Yeah…but there's something different," Fang crouched up, pushing his shoulders on the top of his cage. Then he started rocking back and forth, swaying his cage. What was he doing?

"Fang, what are you doing?" Iggy asked. The poor guy.

"Give me a second, Ig-man," Fang rocked the cage harder until it started to move slightly to the left. He was moving his cage! After a few moments longer, his cage was moved almost completely behind Iggy's, though I could still see his face. Then I saw the cage next to him and I almost choked on a breath I was inhaling. Fang had been right. There was a girl. But…wait for it…

She had black wings. Just like Fang. Her hair was long and black and twisted down her right shoulder. Her skin was pale, and her eyes…oh, her eyes. They scared me the most. They were a dark black. _Just like Fang's_.

"Fang," I gasped. The girl could have been his sister. Or his cousin…or something.

"I know," the girl stuck a hand out of her cage and Fang stuck his back out, brushing his fingertips with hers. A pang of jealousy shocked me. Don't ask me why. "She's a test-tube baby…but we look alike, don't we?" Iggy shifted in his cage, obviously trying to figure out what Fang was talking about.

"Max?" Iggy asked. "Is she pretty?" Figures. Iggy asks me this question at the awkward-est moment. Of course. The girl looked at me with her dark eyes and I gasped silently. Angel sucked in breath next to me. She was beautiful. She wore all black, but her clothes were tight to her body, as if it was some workout thing. Her hair was long…and looked ebony from my angle. Her feet were bare and her hands looked like they were scarred from something.

"Yeah, Iggy," she smiled at me and I smiled back. "She beautiful," a door off in the distance slammed shut and the girl jumped, stretching out her wings in some defensive posture.

"What's your name?" Angel asked. She had moved closer to the girl and was smiling at her. My little angel.

"Shadow," the girl answered. Her voice was musical, but it wasn't high like most teenage girls, it was lower, but musical just the same. It sounded like…an Eraser's voice. I could feel my face whiten with dread. But I kept my Max-like-posture.

"How long have you been here?" Gazzy asked. The woman turned to him and I caught Gazzy blush. What the heck was going on with the males in my flock?

"Fourteen years," Iggy gasped and I myself felt pity for the girl. She's been here ever since we left, and she's as old as we were. Poor girl. Another door opened and closed and the sound of footsteps came on the wooden floor. A light flicked on in the room and I was temporarily blinded. As my eyes adjusted, I made a shape out standing in front of Shadow's cage. _Ari_. I resisted spitting.

"Time to go, sweetheart," Ari whistled. Shadow pulled herself up off her knees and stepped towards the door. Run girl, run! Ari opened it and let her out. He was so gentle with her I could have puked. "More tests," Shadow flinched and slowly crawled out of the cage. Again, poor girl…like they haven't put her through enough already? Ari put his hand on her back and led her out of the room, shutting the light off as they left. I wanted to scream, to punch something, just to…strangle Ari or something.

I stared at Fang in the darkness, trying to grasp what he was coming at. I mean, he looked pretty happy at that girl, right? Shouldn't I be worried, or something? Is he…you know…in love with her?

"Yo, Fang," he turned to me. Face seems stony, like always…hmm, maybe it was just a momentary thing. "Talk to me,"

"Why?" dang it, Fang…now you bottle up when she leaves? What the _h_ is wrong with you?

"Uh, the girl, possibly?" Fang just looked at me with his dark eyes, like always did and played with Iggy's cage.

"What about her?" really? Going to play dumb with me, huh? The door opened again and the light flickered on. This time, someone was here for_ moi_. Jeb stood in front of my cage and sneered down at me.

"Let's go, Max, I have something to show you," yeah, I'd like to show you a knuckle sandwich…in the face. He unlatched my cage and helped me out. I resisted growling and snapping his finger but instead, I followed him like a starving rabbit following a walking carrot. He led me out of the room and down a long hallway and into another room.

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**Hey guys, hoped you liked it so far! R&R please ;p **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

"Shadow," Jeb explained, standing next to me and looking at the same thing I was. Shadow, the girl from before…remember?...was sitting in a tree and watching three Erasers below her. "She's the last one of her flock…they all died about two years ago," yeah, two years ago…so when you came back, right? "Here, let the computer tell you," he pushed a button below my crossed arms and a computer voice started talking.

"Shadow…age 14," the voice was below my chin and I stopped myself from jumping. Calm down, Max! "Last of her recombinant team of six,"

"Poor girl," I muttered. Jeb didn't notice and I looked up to see that Shadow had folded her wings and was preparing herself to jump onto an Eraser's shoulders. "No wings? That's gutsy," the computer voice below me hadn't stopped so I decided to multitask and watch Shadow and listen to her past at the same time. Geez, and I thought live wasn't hard enough already. Watching her and listening was hard. That girl was quick! She jumped from one Eraser to another like a frog to a Lilly pad so fast I couldn't keep up.

"…trained in stealth fighting and observance…" spying…great. "…Shadow excelled in her studies in Astrophysics and Forensic Sciences…" wow, she's smart too? I just had happened to look down from Shadow's movements and I gasped. I wasn't the only one watching Shadow's performance. There were three other windows, and all of them held people, watching intently at the fight in the arena in front of me. In the nearest window, Fang and a whitecoat watched with interest at Shadow's fighting skills. Fang looked over at my window and made a signal to me. I repeated it back to him and looked at the other window. Iggy was standing in front of a glass screen and I saw that he was hooked up to some wiring that was connected to his temples. No doubt they were there to make him see Shadow.

The bullies! Iggy was obviously in pain from the connection, but he tried not to show it as his head moved back and forth watching Shadow jump from place to place. He liked her. Iggy liked her. There was no doubt, for he was watching her every movement…and I mean every movement. Iggy liked her! I can't get over that…sorry, it's going to take me a while. IGGY LIKES SOMEONE…okay, I'm done. I'm done…

In the other window I saw another lab coat controlling some sort of control panel. Every time and Eraser went down; he pushed some button to let in another wolf abomination. He was going to tire her out…or maybe that was their intent. Again, bullies.

Perspiration didn't appear on Shadow's face until maybe the twenty-fifth Eraser…who just happened to be Ari. He flashed me a tooth grin before striding towards Shadow who was busy with another Eraser. Come on, girl…bust his stupid wolf chops for me!

Ari kept on advancing at her until her present victim hit the dirt twitching. She spun around as soon as she heard Ari's footsteps…but it was too late. Ari sent her spinning with a backhand slap that would have dented a human's skull.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Fang flinched as he watched Ari smack the crap out of Shadow. He wanted to…he wanted to hit something. He wanted to hit Ari for hurting Shadow. Fang had no idea how or why he had these feelings…he just knew he did. Did he like Shadow? He wasn't too sure. Did he know she was insufferably hot? Yes…yes and yes, over a million times…yes.

Fang growled as Ari slammed Shadow into a tree. _Why doesn't she fight back?_ That question rang through his head like a bouncy ball in a never ending rubber cage. _Why doesn't she fight back? _

After a few minutes longer, Fang couldn't take it any more. He slammed his hands onto the control panel below him, hitting as many buttons as he could at the same time. He didn't care what they did…as long as Ari stopped beating up Shadow. The whitecoat next to him flinched as Fang punched the glass window in front of him.

_Good…flinch you whitecoat…be afraid of me…let her go_. Fang winced as he slammed his fists into the control board again…then he noticed the blood. _I'm not doing her any favors beating myself up_. He looked up just as Shadow punched Ari straight in the face, most likely breaking his wolf nose.

Fang stopped himself from exploding with joy.

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**Sorry this chapter is so short, but you're getting two for one! Haha. R and R please! Thank you! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Shadow couldn't take it anymore. She didn't care if she was instructed to take the beating from Ari…it just hurt too much. When Ari had her sliding very painfully up the tree by every blow he gave, she screeched in frustration and slammed her forearms onto Ari's arms, creating a look of surprise on Ari's face…with a mixture of fear. She swung a heavy blow to his nose, instantly creating a streaming flow of blood from it.

"Take that, you wolf freak," she mumbled as she struck another blow. "I wasn't built to perform for others of my kind," she planted a roundhouse kick in Ari's ear, making Ari shout in pain. "Take that," and she push kicked him into one of the glass windows…in who she found out later that Max was standing in. Ari stood shakily and Shadow grinned. "It's judgment time, jerk,"

Shadow stepped back into the light which was given by a very powerful spotlight. Shuddering from the pain in the front of her torso, she unfolding her pitch black wings. Blinking once, she smiled. _Thank you scientist for my sixteen foot wingspan._ She heard Ari gasp in fear and she looked up at him. His face was white…if it even could do that…and he was shaking.

"Shadow…please, I'm sorry," Shadow snarled. "I…Jeb…dad told me to," Shadow hissed and took a step towards Ari until a high, piercing whistle shook the air, making Shadow scratch at her ears and drop to the floor, twitching in frustration. She shrieked with the whistle, momentarily drowning it out. When the noise stopped, Shadow lay shaking on the ground, her black wings wrapped around her in a blanket of darkness. Ari stood, wiped the blood off of his nose, swooped down and picked Shadow up in his large arms and carried her out of the arena. Outside of the door they excited out of, Jeb was standing waiting for them, his face stern and angry.

"Shadow," he hissed. Shadow unwrapped one of her wings away from her face and peered out at him. "You know you aren't allowed to hurt the Erasers…badly," Shadow winced and snuggled up against Ari as if Jeb was going to hit her, or worse, turn the screeching whistle back on again. "You killed one of the batch, you know, Mike," she winced again as Ari set her down softly on the cold floor. "The one who was supposed to be exterminated at the end of the month?" Shadow shivered.

"I…I killed him early?" Jeb nodded. "Oh…oops, my bad,"

"You killed an Eraser," Jeb replied, extending a hand to Shadow's shivering form. Shadow frowned.

"I said I was sorry!" she whined.

"You killed an Eraser," Jeb continued. "Job well done,"

**R and R please! Again, sorry these chapters are so short. I'm trying to get it as close as possible to the format in the book. Thanks for your reviews!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

I sat in my cage and huffed. Who was this girl? Well, I knew the literal terms for her…last one in group, amazingly strong…but _who _was she? Was she a friend, or foe? Food or Poison? I had no idea, but for Fang and Iggy's sake, I'd giver her a chance.

I watched her from my cage for I don't know how long. Minutes? Hours? I think she fell asleep once, but now she was awake and staring back at me.

"How are you?" I asked. "Your wings hurt?"

"Naw," I liked her enthusiasm already. "They may try,"

"I know right?" we both laughed nervously and looked away. Fang was watching both of us and we looked at him.

"What?" we asked at the same time. Fang huffed and fiddled with the lock on his cage. I shook my head and turned back to Shadow. She was fiddling with her cage as well. **Disgusting**. I looked down and picked at my fingers when I heard a faint _click_. My head shot up. What was that? My eyes went to Shadow who was grinning wickedly…_from outside of her cage_. I shook my head. Did I miss something?

"They forgot to lock me in…" she walked over to Fang and undid his cage. Fang undid mine, and I undid Angel's and Gazzy's. Shadow undid Iggy and helped him out, Iggy's hand resting on Shadow's forearm. We stood in the middle of the room and looked at each other.

"Shadow, do you know the way out from here?" I asked. "Since we're free, we might as well get _free_," Shadow smiled again.

"Bust some Eraser butt?" I nodded. "We go out the doors, take a quick right and straight for five hundred meters before turning left and out the doors…we'll be home free by then," I motioned for her to take the lead which took some effort from me. I hated not knowing, but I hadn't been in this building for two years. What construction they might have done was beyond me. Shadow led us out and to the right and broke into a sprint. Iggy was right behind her, hand clasping some strands of Shadow's black hair.

I ran right next to them, feeling the wind on my face. We were going free! Breaking out of the school _again_. It felt good. Fool me once, right? I skidded in halt behind Shadow before turning sharply to the left. A set of double doors loomed in front of us as we raced towards them.

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**Is Shadow good or bad? Was she left unlocked on purpose? Keep reading to find out! **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

"Iggy," Shadow whispered. Iggy pulled on the strands of hair he was holding in reply. "Doors ahead…you ready?" Shadow felt the tug on her hair and barreled towards the doors at full speed. At the last moment, she dropped all her weight into a full-out slide. She shouted "NOW" and Iggy jumped over her in a flying kick. Together with their weight, they opened the doors and ran out sprinting.

_This is too easy. _Shadow thought. _Did they want us to get out? Or are they just not prepared? Do they know, or are they even watching? _She hissed as she stopped in front of the gates that guarded the school.

"Iggy, can you let go for a second?" Iggy, who had re-grabbed her hair, immediately let go. "Thanks," Shadow sized up the wall, took in a deep breath and was about to tackle through them when she heard Max cough.

"Problem?" Shadow tensed without even looking back.

"Nope. Why, you afraid of some fencing?" she heard Max snort and Shadow pushed all of her weight into a full-blown tackle, breaking the locks on the gates and slamming them open. "Go!" she shouted. "They heard that!"

"How do you-?" Max asked before sirens began blaring at full sound. "RUN!"

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**R & R please! Sorry for taking so long. Hope you enjoyed it! **


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